


Risky Business

by froggydarren



Series: FullmoonFiclet Entries [130]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV) RPF
Genre: Friendship, M/M, Pining, Pre-Relationship, Unresolved Romantic Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2020-01-23 14:07:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18551317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/froggydarren/pseuds/froggydarren
Summary: There’s one person whom Tyler wants to hang out with at any given moment in time. He’s also the one with whom there’s a higher risk of being recognized and swarmed by fans. Still, they’re going to be only a few hours apart and with a little time on their hands. Tyler wonders if it’s worth the risk.





	Risky Business

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [Full Moon Ficlet](http://fullmoonficlet.tumblr.com) challenge - prompt #324: recognize

Tyler knows how to hide in a crowd. It's not easy, but it's easier than it was a few years ago, when all the cameras were pointed at anyone who looked even a little like one of his cast mates. These days, he just knows to avoid those of them who seek out the spotlight, who like to revel in it and know that it gets them the attention necessary to keep having success when it comes to their careers. He does hang out with them still, but it's in private settings and with the explicit wish to not take or post photos on their public accounts. Those who do like his company—and whose company _he_  enjoys—are good at doing, or rather _not doing_  what they usually do: documenting the majority of their movements online.

But then there's Dylan. The one person from the cast who doesn't need to drum up attention, the one person who gets recognized no matter where he goes and how much he works on keeping a low profile. The one person who would blow any cover that Tyler has without meaning to. 

And yet he's the one person with whom Tyler likes to stay in touch. They just can't do it anywhere in public, because the chance of being spotted is too high. And it matters too much to keep their friendship solid.

It matters more then Tyler likes to admit because that admission is likely to lead to others, ones that he's not sure Dylan would appreciate. 

It was towards the end of _Teen Wolf_ 's run on TV that he recognized the signs for what they were. He knew by the final days on set that his eagerness to keep talking to Dylan, to spend time in his presence was beyond his usual friendships. It's different than when it's Colton, different than Ian or JR. With those, he doesn't mind if they don't see each other for weeks or months, when their work takes them places in distant time zones and countries. He likes to have them around but unless it's been _months_ , he doesn't feel the craving to hear their voices or see their faces.

"Man, I missed your face," Dylan says when Tyler answers a FaceTime just before he's due to fly out to Australia. 

_Me too_ , Tyler thinks and then says it, careful not to pour all his feelings into the two innocuous words. 

"You're heading down under for a while, aren't you? Posey said you guys have booked events here," Dylan says a few minutes into their conversation. 

"Yeah, we are. Two conventions in two weekends, so we're gonna hang around instead of flying back and forth," Tyler replies. 

He knows where this is going and he's not sure how to explain that he _can't_  do what he thinks Dylan will ask him for. That he can't meet up for dinner even though they'll be only hours apart. That he's already seen the photos of Dylan over there and that people _know_  where he is. 

That it's been too long since he had Dylan's arms wrapped around his shoulders and felt the closeness that they used to show indiscriminately when they were on set. That he doesn't think he can be that close to Dylan physically and keep his feelings hidden. It's too much of a risk of not only them being spotted, but also of his secret being revealed. 

Dylan might figure it out. He's always been way too good at reading Tyler, knowing what bothers him and what he's thinking.

"Posey's coming over in the week between," Dylan says, surprising Tyler.

"Is he? He didn't say."

"I only just talked to him, like, an hour ago. He sorted out the plans with his team." 

"Good for him. You guys gonna go out?" Tyler asks, pushing down the green-eyed monster that's rising in his chest.

"For a bit, yeah," Dylan confirms what Tyler figured out. "He's driving, you know. Or well, getting someone to drive him."

"Oh?"

"You could tag along."

There it is, the suggestion that's really a request, the one that Tyler knows rationally he should decline. The one that holds enough danger but could still be perfectly safe if they choose it to be. Because sometimes, for as much as he gets noticed, Dylan knows how to carve that little slice of privacy that doesn't seem to exist in his life. 

Tyler should say no. 

"Do you want me to?" 

His voice trembles as he asks. Maybe a little too much. Dylan's face lights up when he realizes that Tyler hasn't immediately shut down the possibility. 

"Dude, always."

He doesn't say that he'd love to see them both and that's something that Tyler's mind zeroes in on. 

"You could stay at my place. Posey and I will head out for a while when he gets here, but you could..." Dylan's voice fades like there is something else he wants to say but doesn't know how to. 

Tyler knows how to read him too, maybe not as well as Dylan reads him but enough. There's an offer there to hang out without company, to spend alone time together. An offer that hasn't happened in a long time. 

"I could," he says quietly. "I'd need to run it by my people, see what the arrangements are."

"Do. Let me know? Call me when you're in a closer time zone?" 

They go back to small talk then, letting the offer hang in the air without a resolution. Unlike other unresolved things, this one doesn't make Tyler cringe or want to run away. He still doesn't think it would be a good idea to be anywhere near Dylan when they're both already in places that people know about. Normally he doesn't check social media other than whatever he catches sight of when he's posting something necessary for work, but this time he had a glance and he _knows_  that people are well aware of the fact that he'll be close enough to Dylan for a visit. As will Posey, though he's way less concerned with being recognized. In fact, he's one of the people who thrive on it. 

Tyler does call Dylan when they touch down in Australia though—it's not quite the same timezone, but close enough—even if it's only to tell him that he doesn't think he'll be able to make it. 

"You know you really could just hide in the back of Posey's ride, right?" Dylan asks, visibly disappointed. 

"I know. But you know I like to roam places by myself and I have a whole week," Tyler tells him.

It's an excuse, but it's one that he knows Dylan will accept because it's been true for years. 

"I'll see if I make my way to your area," Tyler adds because he doesn't like the expression on Dylan's face. 

"You know I'm lying low when I'm here, right? Especially now that we're in the prep stage." 

"I know."

"I'd really love to see you, Hoech. At this rate, next time we're in the same room, I don't know if I'll recognize you at all," Dylan says and there's something in his voice that makes Tyler's stomach flip. 

"You can see me right now," he says instead, trying to ignore the butterflies inside him. 

"Not the same thing. Cameras lie."

"I'll try."

They don't talk about the possibility of Tyler visiting again, not during that call or when they talk the next time—Posey included—during breaks at the convention. Tyler shakes his head when Posey tries to suggest that they go together and Dylan's face falls for a fraction of a moment, but then he nods in understanding. 

It takes another few days—almost too many because Tyler does have commitments—for him to make up his mind. Posey's already back from his visit, glowing with happiness as he always does after seeing Dylan. Tyler also knows about them being spotted by fans, which is precisely why he didn't want to go. He's too old for that shit and for the potential for drama that comes with it. 

Instead, he rents a car two days before the next convention and drives to where Dylan told him he was. He walks into the hotel with his hat pulled deep into his face, shoulders slumped, but trying not to look like he's about to rob the place. When he finds the room number that Dylan gave him—no doubt in the hopes that Tyler would do just what he's doing now—he hesitates. 

_Maybe he's not here_ , he thinks. 

But then he figures he's got nothing to lose and knocks. 

"I didn't order room--" Dylan starts saying as he's opening the door, but the words die on his tongue when he recognizes Tyler. "You ass!"

"Hi to you too," Tyler tells him with a smug grin. 

Instead of returning the greeting, he finds himself tugged into the room and he has Dylan's arms wrapped around him before the door slams shut. 

_Worth it_ , he thinks, hugging Dylan back with a smile on his lips and warmth spreading in his chest. _Absolutely worth the risk of getting spotted_. 

**Author's Note:**

> [my tumblr](http://froggydarren.tumblr.com/)


End file.
